Photograph
by jwg676
Summary: Kuchiki Byakuya and the pictures of the people most important and dear to his heart


**Title:** Photograph

**Rating:** G

**Pairing / Characters: **Kuchiki Byakuya

**Word Count: **1, 042 words

**Warnings: **small spoilery sort of stuff for the Soul Society arc

**Summary: **Byakuya reminisces over the pictures in the Kuchiki household

**A/N: **This is another side to my softy Byakuya. Did I mention how much fun he is to work with???

_Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh_

_How did our eyes get so red and what the hell was on Joey's head?_

_This is where I grew up; I think the present owner fixed it up_

_I never knew we ever went without; the second floor is hard for sneaking out_

_And this is where I went to school; most of the time had better things to do_

_Criminal record says I broke in twice; I must have done it half a dozen times_

_I wonder if it's too late, should I go back and try to graduate_

_Life's better now than it was back then; if I was them I wouldn't let me in_

Even when Kuchiki Byakuya was younger, he never kept any pictures of his family. The only memory of them he had was of stern, passionless people who loved their duty to Sereitei more than they loved their own son. It wasn't as if he cared, but it was just a little pathetic that the only photo he did have was of Shiba Kaien, Shiba Kuukaku, Urahara Kisuke, and himself.

The people he considered his real family.

_Every memory of looking out the back door_

_I had the photo album spread out on the bedroom floor_

_It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye_

_Every memory of walking out the front door_

_I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for_

_It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye_

When Byakuya entered the academy, that picture was the first thing he packed, and was also the first item he laid out in his new quarters. Somehow, it made the place feel like home, especially after Kaien accidentally "christened" the frame with a half empty bottle of sake.

It was the only time he had ever seen Kuukaku hit her brother so hard he broke the bed.

Byakuya laughed so hard at that that his side ached for hours afterwards.

_Remember the old arcade; we blew every dollar that we ever made_

_The cops hated us hanging out; they said somebody went and burned it down_

_We used to listen to the radio and sing along to every song we'd know_

_We said some day we'd find out how it feels to sing to more than just a steering wheel_

_Kim's the first girl I kissed; I was so nervous that I nearly missed_

_She's had a couple of kids since then; I haven't seen her since god knows when_

Hisana was the first woman he had ever kissed, and that was the day of their marriage. In the first two months of their marriage, every time Hisana reached up to kiss him, he was so nervous that he nearly threw up. Determined not to make the same mistakes his parents had, Byakuya commissioned an artist to follow Hisana around the Kuchiki residence and to draw as many pictures of her as was possible.

When Hisana asked him why, he told her that he never wanted her to feel like she wasn't loved.

He didn't want her to feel like he had as a child.

_Every memory of looking out the back door_

_I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor_

_It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye_

_Every memory of walking out the front door _

_I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for_

_It's hard to say it time to say it, goodbye, goodbye_

Sometime during the short period that they were together, Byakuya found himself carrying around a small pencil drawing of Hisana. Whenever missions cropped op, whenever he had to leave the house, that photo went along. The night he had drawn it, Hisana had fallen asleep near the fireplace, and Byakuya had been unable to resist the temptation of her high cheekbones, the outstretched hand, the way her yukata twisted around her shoulder.

When the picture went missing, Byakuya was so distraught that he tore his office apart before he remembered that he had left it on his bed.

The picture hadn't left his side until Hisana died; then he burned it and left it on her grave.

_I miss that town, I miss their faces_

_You can't erase, you can't replace it_

_I miss them now I can't believe it_

_So hard to stay too hard to leave it_

_If I could relive those days I know the one thing that would never change_

Byakuya regretted his actions until the day he met Rukia. Remembering his oath to protect her, and to raise her, he had done the only thing that he could and locked every picture he had away. It made his house colder, forbidding, but Byakuya barely noticed.

He was too busy mentally comparing Rukia with her sister.

_Every memory of looking out the back door_

_I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor_

_It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye_

_Every memory of walking out the front door_

_I found the photo of the person I was looking for_

_It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye_

After the traumatic events on Soukyokou Hill, where he had nearly lost Rukia to his own folly, Byakuya chose to acknowledge that the two of them had a bond – they both loved each other, and they had both grown up in cold environments.

When Byakuya went to find the same artist who had drawn the pictures of his beloved wife, such was the artists surprise at seeing Rukia that he offered to do the pictures for free.

Byakuya paid him nearly triple the fees that he had paid the first time.

_Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh_

_Every time I do it makes me…_

Byakuya still carries a picture with him wherever he goes. It lies in a pocket close to his heart, and not a single soul suspects it's there.

A picture of his sister, a smile on her face, her dark eyes bright with laughter and pleasure, staring at a birthday cake that had taken him nearly four hours to bake.


End file.
